


The Chair

by SRassier



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: First Date, Post-Apocalypse, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRassier/pseuds/SRassier
Summary: Based on the song The Chair by George Strait. Five and Delores have a nice evening at a "bar" in his post-apocalyptic world.
Relationships: Dolores/Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy)
Kudos: 8





	The Chair

**Author's Note:**

> I heard this song on the radio the other day and it has been nagging me ever since.

It had been nearly a year since Number Five got himself stuck in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that was now his home. It had been eight months since he found his mannequin companion. It had been six months since he finally settled on a name, Delores. It had been three months since he started to talk to her. It had been one month since she started talking back.

Number Five was not an idiot. He was by all measurements a genius. He knew what isolation could do to one’s mind and understood the voice he heard when she talked was entirely in his mind. This didn’t stop it from being a comfort to him, he knew it was only a matter of time until he went full bore nuts and started blurring the line between his thoughts and Delores’ voice. Today was that day.

Delores sat on a green upturned milk crate that Five had propped her up on as he prepared his dinner. A can of cold beans and a few slices of beef jerky a year ago would have seemed strange to the boy but today, it was a feast. He ate in silence, nervous about his after-dinner plans, stealing glances at his companion, quickly turning away when he felt her notice his stare.

He finished the last of the beans and threw the can to the side of their makeshift tent, long since abandoning the need to keep the world tidy. Taking a deep breath, he stood, smoothed clothes out as best as he could and made his way over to her.

“Excuse me, Delores. Um…I believe you have my chair.” He looked to the right at the other crate set next to the green one. “Oh no, I don’t think that one is taken, please…” He gently lifted his companion up and placed her upon the red crate, taking his own seat next to her. He looked around and nodded. “Yeah, it’s usually packed in this place on Friday nights. It’s a wonder you found a spot at all.”

“A light?” He patted his clothes, checking his pockets for a lighter before throwing her a pitying look. “I’m sorry, I don’t smoke.” Five smiled and chuckled a bit. “Yeah, I guess you could take it as a sign that it’s time to quit.” He fiddled with a small hole in his jacket, making a mental note to fix it before it grew larger. The silence became too unbearable and he blurted out, “Could I drink you a buy?” His face turned a bright shade of red and he quietly cursed his fumble. Grateful that she didn’t immediately burst out laughing, he tried again. “What I meant was, can I buy you a drink? Anything you like.”

Pouring water from his canteen into the two cups between them, he slid one toward her. “You are very welcome.” Five lifted his own cup up and took a drink, savoring one half of his nightly water ration before putting the cup down and asking her, “Are you waiting for someone to meet you here?” He let a smile play one his lips. “Me neither.”

Five looked in the direction that Delores’ arm was always pointing. “No, I’m not sure what the name of the band is.” He nodded along with the imaginary beat playing in his head. “They are pretty good though.” It was now the moment of truth. “Would you like to dance?”

He stood and gingerly lifted his plastic companion and stepped onto a piece of cardboard he set out earlier. Grasping her one hand with his and placing his other on her waste, he began to spin them around the makeshift dance floor. “I like this song too.” He decided that the evening was going well and decided to be bold. “It reminds me of you and me.” He looked in her eyes and listened attentively, the smile never once leaving his face. “Do you think that maybe I could walk you home later?” He chuckled a bit and shook his head. “No, I don’t mind at all.” 

The silent song ended and Five walked the two of them back to their chairs where he finished his nightly rations before carrying Delores over to the dog bed that Five had found a week ago that fit her perfectly. He leaned over and kissed her on the hand, whispering goodnight before laying down on his own ratty mattress and falling into a very pleasant sleep.

~~~

“Can you give me a minute?” Five called across the barren area in front of the broken-down library he had called home for several years. The blonde woman tilted her head and nodded with a sly smile. “Of course.”

Five turned to Delores and knelt in front of her, whispering. “I don’t want to go without you.”  
“That’s nonsense, Five. You know that you will not get another chance like this ever.” Five started to shake his head but Delores was having none of it and didn’t let him interrupt. “If you don’t go with her, you will die here.”  
“Then I die here.”  
“No. You have to survive. You have to go back…Fix this, save your family.”  
Five sniffed and wiped at an errant tear with the arm of his dusty coat. “Come with me.”

“Five.” Delores spoke calmly. “You know there is no place for me there. You have a job to do and I will just be a distraction.”  
He knew she was right. She always was. Five stood up and steeled himself to leave his only companion for the past 40 years. He turned halfway back to the strange woman before turning back with one final thought.

He knelt back down and leaned forward to whisper into her ear. “I just thought you should know. When we went to that bar…you know the one…our first date?”  
“Yes…?”  
“Well, I have a confession.” Delores looked at him quizzically. “That wasn’t really my chair after all.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and stood. Turning on his heel, he quickly walked away before losing his nerve. When he reached the woman, her hand was outstretched, and he threw one last glance back before reaching out himself and taking her hand. The two of them disappeared in a bright flash of light just as Delores muttered to herself… “I knew.”


End file.
